Three-dimensional (3D) printing (e.g., additive manufacturing) is a process for making a three-dimensional (3D) object of any shape from a design. The design may be in the form of a data source such as an electronic data source, or may be in the form of a hard copy. The hard copy may be a two-dimensional representation of a 3D object. The data source may be an electronic 3D model. 3D printing may use an additive process in which successive layers of material are laid down one on top of each other. This process may be controlled (e.g., automatically and/or manually controlled). A 3D printer can be an industrial robot.
3D printing can generate custom parts quickly and efficiently. A variety of materials can be used in a 3D printing process including elemental metal, metal alloy, ceramic, elemental carbon, and/or polymeric material. In a typical additive 3D printing process, a first material-layer is formed, and thereafter, successive material-layers (or parts thereof) are added one by one, wherein each new material-layer is added on (e.g., and connected to) a pre-formed material-layer, until the entire designed three-dimensional structure (3D object) is materialized.
3D models may be created utilizing a computer aided design package and/or via 3D scanner. The manual modeling process of preparing geometric data for 3D computer graphics may be similar to plastic arts, such as sculpting or animating. 3D scanning is a process of analyzing and collecting digital data on the shape and appearance of a real object. Based on this data, 3D models of the scanned object can be produced. The 3D models may include computer-aided design (CAD).
A large number of additive processes are currently available. They may differ in the manner layers are deposited to create the materialized structure. They may vary in the material or materials that are used to generate the designed structure. Some methods melt or soften material to produce the layers.